Magnesium oxide (MgO) thin films have assumed significant importance in recent times due to two major applications, namely, as a protective layer on glass in plasma display panels and as an intermediate buffer layer between a semiconductor substrate (e.g. Si, GaAs) and a ferroelectric film (e.g. PbTiO3) in oxide-based devices on semiconductors. Even more recently it has been discovered that MgO films can be of great value in the fabrication of superconductors and photovoltaic devices. For example, crystalline MgO films can be used as a buffer layer for depositing silicon on inexpensive substrates such as soda-lime glass. While methods such as Sol-Gel and Aluminum Acetylacetonate have been employed to fabricate crystalline films, the grain size of such films has been small. It has therefore been desirable to find a method for depositing large grain to single crystal MgO films for the fabrication of various devices for various electronics, solar, and microelectronic applications. Techniques such as Ion Beam Assisted Deposition have led to textured MgO films of high quality, yet IBAD is an expensive procedure and the grains are neither large nor single crystalline. Inclined Substrate Deposition (IDS) is also commonly used to deposit MgO on glass and while it is textured it is neither large grain or single crystalline. As of the date of this disclosure, no method exists for depositing large grain or single crystalline MgO films on inexpensive substrates; and no method exists that can do so in a way that is cost effective.
Accordingly what is desired is to produce large grain or single crystal films. What is also desired is to produce large grain or single crystal films at low temperature, i.e. below the softening temperature of soda-lime glass. It is also desired to obtain large grain or single crystal films on sodalime glass. It is yet another object of this invention to provide large grain or single crystal films in a cost-effective manner.